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‘Human ATMs’: M-Pesa and the expropriation of affective work in Safaricom's Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2020

Emma Park
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Abstract

This article explores the austere labour regime of Safaricom – Kenya's largest telecommunications firm and financial services provider – from the perspective of the women and men who work as ‘human ATMs’ for Safaricom's breakout service, M-Pesa. Far from women and men simply acting as ATMs, I argue that the affective and social labour of these people working at sites across the country constitutes a form of maintenance work that, while essentially free in Safaricom's accounts, critically underwrites the success of M-Pesa and Safaricom. In making this argument, I draw on the insights of feminist political theorist Nancy Fraser, who has pushed Marx's key insight that behind the sphere of exchange lies the ‘hidden abode’ of production. In contrast, Fraser argues that behind the ‘hidden abode’ of production lie domains more hidden still that constitute the ‘backstory’ of contemporary forms of accumulation. I argue that the work of ‘human ATMs’ constitutes both the ‘front story’ and the ‘backstory’ of contemporary modes of accumulation unfolding in Kenya. Their labour is formally exploited while broader forms of work required to build and maintain the social and material networks on which Safaricom depends are expropriated, forming the basis of new frontiers of accumulation. This process is mirrored in Safaricom's contemporary business strategy, which is premised on enclosing people's everyday habits and social networks in their digital forms as sites of innovation and market-making.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article explore le régime de travail austère de Safaricom, la plus grande société de télécommunications du Kenya et prestataire de services financiers, du point de vue des femmes et des hommes qui travaillent comme « distributeurs automatiques de billets (DAB) humains » pour M-Pesa, le service extrêmement populaire de Safaricom. L'auteur soutient que ces femmes et ces hommes sont loin de jouer un simple rôle de DAB, et que le travail affectif et social de ces personnes qui travaillent sur des sites répartis dans tout le pays constitue une forme de travail de maintenance qui, bien qu'essentiellement gratuit au regard des comptes de Safaricom, assure de manière critique le succès de M-Pesa et de Safaricom. Dans son argumentation, l'auteur s'appuie sur les idées de la théoricienne politique féministe Nancy Fraser, qui a poussé la grande idée de Marx selon laquelle le « lieu caché » de la production résiderait derrière la sphère de l’échange. A contrario, Fraser soutient que derrière le « lieu caché » de la production résident des domaines encore plus cachés qui constituent les « dessous de l'histoire » des formes contemporaines d'accumulation. L'auteur soutient que le travail des « DAB humains » constitue à la fois les « dessus et les dessous de l'histoire » de modes contemporains d'accumulation qui se révèlent au Kenya. Leur travail est exploité de manière formelle tandis que des formes de travail plus larges nécessaires pour construire et entretenir les réseaux sociaux et matériels dont dépend Safaricom sont expropriées, formant la base de nouvelles frontières d'accumulation. Ce processus se reflète dans la stratégie commerciale contemporaine de Safaricom, basée sur le clôturage des habitudes quotidiennes et des réseaux sociaux dans leurs formes digitales en tant que sites d'innovation et de tenue de marché.

Type
Austere labour and fragile health
Information
Africa , Volume 90 , Issue 5 , November 2020 , pp. 914 - 933
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Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2020

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